The present invention relates to an apparatus for conserving water, and more particularly to an apparatus for recovering water from the rinse cycle of a clothes washing machine for use in flushing toilets.
The National Association of Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors, in their assessment of on-site grey water and combined waste water, treatment and recycling systems estimates that each person in the United States utilizes approximately 317 gallons of water per week.
Two of the largest uses of water in a household are toilet flushing and clothing washing. Each toilet flush utilizes between one and five gallons of water, and it is estimated that about 100 gallons of water are utilized each week per person just to flush toilets in the home. Each heavy load of laundry utilizes about 57 gallons of water, approximately 38 gallons of which is rinse water. Each person typically does about two to three heavy loads of laundry per week producing about 100 gallons of rinse water per week.
It is well known to recover grey water, which is used water recovered from sources such as sinks, dishwashers, clothes washers, bathtubs, showers, and even rain water run-off for recycling. However, known systems which recycle grey water suffer from several disadvantages. Grey water is generally heavily laden with contaminants such as hair, skin, food particles, soap, bacteria, and soil. Thus, known grey water recycling systems typically require extensive water treatment steps such as settling tanks, ozonators, and the like to eliminate the particulate matter and reduce the foul odors produced by the bacteria common in the grey water. Additionally, the quantity of grey water collected from a multitude of sources necessitates the use of complex piping systems attached to relatively large storage tanks and typically includes outdoor irrigation systems to make use of the large quantities of grey water which are collected.
A fact which appears to have gone unnoticed in the water recycling field is that rinse water from clothes washing machines is practically free from the contaminants typically found in grey water. Rinse water recovered from clothes washing machines usually has relatively low levels of soap, chlorine, and lint as contaminants. Thus, water recovered from the rinse cycle of clothes washing machines is more appropriately termed "cloudy" water to designate its relative lack of contaminants. Therefore, the terms "cloudy" water and "rinse" water used herein are synonymous terms for water recovered from the rinse cycle of a clothes washing machine.
Cloudy water is only lightly contaminated yet about 100 gallons per week of cloudy water is generated and disposed of by each person in an average dwelling. This is an extremely wasteful use of water. Therefore, a need exists for a water recovery and recycling apparatus which makes use of cloudy water, is simple and less expensive to install than grey water recovery systems and which makes use of the numerical relationship of the quantity of water needed to flush toilets each week and the amount of rinse water needed to wash clothing each week. A need also exists for a cloudy water recovery and recycling apparatus which eliminates the need for extensive water treatment.